Unless I’m the only target to a very consistent marketing campaign, people are being made aware of the fact that Pokemon is turning 20 this year. There’s even a Super Bowl ad coinciding with this milestone. While its been some time since the last time I played a Pokemon game (Gold, in case you are wondering), I couldn’t help but recognize that there’s still something special about Pokemon as a larger narrative and why it, at least to me, still seemingly has an importance today.

Of course, this could all just be wistful nostalgia, but let’s see where the rabbit hole leads.

The first place to start would be with the Super Bowl ad itself.

What’s particularly striking to me about this commercial is how little of it is actually connected to the content of the Pokemon franchise. The repeated mantra of “I can do that” calls back to the driving force behind Pokemon’s original narrative. For anybody who watched the original show back in the late 90s, the not-so-subtle inclusion of “Like No One Ever Was” is a direct reference to the lyrics of the theme song for the television show.

Aside from the obvious nostalgia angle, the decision to focus on these components of Pokemon is significant because it reinforces the open-ended nature of the protagonist’s (or the player’s) ultimate goal: to be the very best. The commercial shows people running, playing chess, gearing up for a football game, and engaging in a stadium-style Pokemon battle. How are all of these things connected? They aren’t, and that’s precisely the point.

The Pokemon television show back in the 90s introduced a protagonist, Ash Ketchum (because puns were funnier back then), who was driven towards being a “Pokemon Master”. Given that this is the character’s primary motivator for the first couple seasons, you would expect some specificity as to what conditions need to be met in order to become said master. You would be wrong. Between the two broad goals of capturing as many of the various types of Pokemon in the world and winning Pokemon battles, there is a whole lot of time dedicated to efforts that directly go against even these two enormous feats. On top of that, the show’s protagonist DOES NOT win all of his battles. He DOES NOT capture all the Pokemon ever, to the potential chagrin of completionists everywhere. But that’s okay. The goal of being of “Pokemon Master” is still out there, in spite of, or perhaps because of, his prioritization of his human companions, his Pokemon, or the world at large.

What’s equally enduring about Pokemon is that it’s not afraid to show us that world and, with each new generation of Pokemon introduced, seemingly expand it out further. The primary goal, of being the very best, takes on new significance when you realize just how big the world can be. However, the response by Ash (as well as the player in the Pokemon games) is to go out and engage that every growing universe. While there’s a certain level of naivete that comes along with a show predicated on a bunch of pre-teens wandering the world with nothing but what amounts to fighting pets by their side, 1) it’s a children’s TV show and 2) the lesson to be drawn from this messaging is that it is better to go out and see the world than to be afraid or averse to what it has to offer. If it strikes people as idealism, it is; but what would the world be like if we didn’t raise children to think they could be anything?

“Being the very best” is an open-ended goal that is largely defined by the person who takes it on. That was demonstrated in the TV show, the 20th anniversary ad, and is important when considering the population of people who grew up with Pokemon (myself among them). There are certainly a number of idealists out there who are pushing and fighting to achieve their dreams. Whether it is to be self-sufficient or to make the world a better place, they are out there, engaging the world, being their very best. Where I suppose this becomes “problematic” is when that aspirational and idealistic drive runs up against the realities of the world. The world of Pokemon is certainly not the real world. There are a multitude of dangers, threats, and crises that would, when taken collectively, scare anyone from ever leaving their bunker of a home. However, these dangers are more a product of the world we live in than they are necessary constants. The world as we know it now has always been changing, and those changes are often driven by those who aspire to change it.

It is worth reiterating that Ash lost most of his high-stakes earlier tournaments (it’s possible he became an unstoppable winner in later seasons but I doubt it). In spite of those early and narratively significant losses, he learned from his shortcomings, strengthened his bonds with those closest to him, and moved forward as a better person. What made that growth possible wasn’t just a robust support system, but a constant yearning for self-improvement. While I can’t speak for every idealist out there, I understand that “being the very best” is a long and challenging prospect. I can imagine plenty of people are working through some significant challenges right now and still maintaining their belief in a better future for themselves.

It’s important to think about where we come from collectively as a people, what forms our values, our fears, and our scope of imagination. When it comes to the idealism of the young, I think we were collectively well-served by the hopefulness, the determination, and the idealism that Pokemon presented. Whether that role is still filled by that franchise or another, it is important to our development as a people to never stop pushing for that level of excellence that seems just outside the realm of possibility.

While it may be Halloween for most people, I instead remember the man who passed away on this day years ago. He was a symbol, a legend, and a gentle teacher all rolled into one. Having been named after him and hearing of all of our similarities, it’s become annual ritual for me to reflect on the things I’ll never share with my grandfather. While I could endlessly speculate on the conversations we could have had on our similar directions in life, I always like to take a moment to read the below piece to help me focus my thoughts and remember.

—–

I crouch there, weeping
As the river flows by
The humble beginnings of a once great man,
Reduced now to ash, as the years have long passed
Since the campfires of boyhood have been lit.

The simple box can not contain
His smile or his heart for humanity.
But as all things must live and must die,
So too does he return to the birth of a dream.

But as he is made to be one with the world
And his being is merged with this river of life
My tears do not cease, for there is no release
To the loss of my dear Grandpa.

The silence is broken
In this now hallowed place
By the wind that begins to pick up.
The ashes, now lifted by the movement of air
Partake in ethereal embrace.

But as my heart trembles
At saying farewell
The wind picks up a droplet of life
And as it caresses my face in the sweetest embrace
I know he will be there for me.

The years, they have come
The years, they have gone
And with them, my hopes and my fears.
No longer a youth, but still looking for truth
In the firmament that captures my eye.

The world is now challenged
The world is now broken
Perhaps moreso since when you were here
But your dreams and ambitions, for a just coalition
Seem further and further away.

I march and I run
Against sweltering heat
Afraid to watch the world burn.
And while I grow weary to see this world dreary
I gasp as I try to still breathe.

Though broken and beaten
And slowing my pace
In my effort to bring salvation
I feel it again: my dearest of friend
The ethereal dance of the wind.

It whirls and it pushes
The heat of the earth
Away from the fore of my mind.
But as it sees me now broken, in a language unspoken
It pushes me now to go on.

To remember the dreams
Of an elder great man
The man for whom I was named.
And as he did then, he did so again
Send a kiss of hope through the wind.

And in these brief moments
Of hope and of promise
When the cosmos now seem all aligned
I weep once again, for I feel him now send
A message for me to embrace.

I know that you’ll miss me
I know that you’ll grieve
For to death there seems no reprieve.
But as the sun comes tomorrow
Grow strong out of sorrow
For in you, my last son, I’ll believe.